In the sport of fly fishing and fly casting, the user (fisherman) attempts to place a hook, disguised or dressed with colorful lightweight natural or synthetic materials, in a particular location where it will hopefully attract the attention, and incite the strike of a fish. The fly itself usually has very little weight and it, together with its camouflaged hook, are attached to the free end of a length of light test line, such as light monofilament line which is then attached to a heavier line usually specially designed for fly casting. The fly line is initially stored on a reel which is located at the butt end of a light weight fly casting rod. The sport of fly casting and fly fishing is not similar to other types of fishing, such as surf casting in which a single cast is sufficient to propel a hook and a sinker or a lure away from the fisherman and to pull the attached line off its reel. In fly casting, the fly, hook and its associated line is positioned aloft by a series of movements of the fly casting rod in a somewhat back and forth or whip-like fashion which energizes and casts the line. As is well known in the art of fly casting and fly fishing, the force of the fly being cast is not sufficient to propel the line in a cast or to pull it off the reel upon which it is stored.
A fly fisherman typically pulls a length of line off the reel of his fly casting rod and deposits this pulled or stripped line either directly onto the surface of the body of water in which he is wading, or more typically into or onto some type of line support that he has attached to himself. Fly fishermen do not generally use the reel to move the line or fly. The line and fly are pulled or moved manually by the fly fisherman. The retrieved line is then either held in the fisherman's hand or deposited on the water or on the floor of a boat awaiting the next cast. Many fly casters have constructed crude stripped line receiving devices from plastic dish pans or other similar generally shallow plastic receptacles. A variety of stripping baskets are available today. However, they all have shortcomings that detract from the enjoyment and pleasure that would otherwise be derived from the sport. These shortcomings may include allowing for a limited range of motion while “stripping” the line, as well as ease of storage for travel. Furthermore, since fly fishing from a boat may involve working in a confined and crowded area, it is desirable to have a basket that is conducive for use in such an environment. Therefore, it is desirable to have an improved stripping basket to overcome the shortcomings of the currently available stripping baskets.